Girlhood is the poignant coming-of-age story of two young
girls going through the juvenile justice system of Maryland for
violent crimes. The documentary explores the complexities of childhood,
or the lack thereof, juvenile incarceration and mother/daughter
relationships in todays America. Megan ran away from ten foster
homes and attacked another child with a box cutter before ending
up in Waxter Juvenile Facility while Shanae was gang-raped by five
boys at age 10, then stabbed another young girl to death at age
11. The documentary follows the girls on a 3-year journey of acceptance
and redemption as the girls struggle to find their paths and come
to terms with their selves.
What strikes the most is Megans and Shanaes relationships
with their mothers. For Megan, whose mother is in and out of jail
for drugs and prostitution, it seems that her tenuous bond with
her mother is all she can see and all she can focus on. Her issues
and almost every word that comes from her mouth seem to be a scream
for contact and a relationship with a mother who can barely take
care of herself. Although Shanae comes from a supportive and solid
family, she is also lost. Her situation makes us examine just how
much a mother can do to help her little girl, who is an old, lost
soul in a childs body. She desperately needs her mother and
even states as much but how overwhelmed Shanaes mother must
be by her love for a daughter who has been gang-raped and commits
murder all in the course of one year. The film asserts that Megans
and Shanaes girlhoods are indicative of the childhoods of
this new day in the U.S. and it seems to ask at every turn, How
did it come to this?. How have we allowed our children to
grow up so fast and suffer so much in the process?
The film documents the beginning of the girls path to coming
to terms with and finding themselves. Girlhood is an amazing, sobering
but must-see look at the way many young people are now coming-of-age
and poses the question of how this country can work to give them
back the childhoods they deserve.
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